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Diversity in Writing

TheeWriter

Last week we spent quite a long time talking about how to use diversity “correctly” in our writing. All to often when we try to be inclusive we end up being judged as pandering, detrimental to the cause or just plain wrong and even offensive to the group we are trying to convey. We went over using race, economic background, disability, sex, religion, cultural differences and more but one thing we did touch on was age. Writing about an age that you aren’t anymore of haven’t been yet can be very difficult. As someone creeping slowly toward “middle age” it … Continue reading Diversity in Writing

Club Meeting Minutes2 Comments

Minutes from April 15, 2019 Meeting

noodlepoet

Thursday, April 18 is Poem in Your Pocket Day! Share your favorite poem down in the comments if you’d like us to add it to the packet we’ll be sharing from throughout the day. Yesterday we shared some original poems and talked a bit about our relationship to poetry. We’d had a great time creating found poems last week but struggled when it came to putting together a satisfying poem using our own words. While all art is subjective, poetry doesn’t have as many concrete rules as fiction does. It’s harder to gauge a poem’s quality—even its doneness is a … Continue reading Minutes from April 15, 2019 Meeting

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Minutes from April 1, 2019 Meeting

noodlepoet

April is National Poetry Month! At our next meeting, Monday, April 8th at 5pm, if you have a favorite poem or find one you like over the course of your reading this week, please bring it along to share with the group. We’ll also do some found poetry exercises—words and materials will be provided, so no pressure! On Monday we wrapped up our diverse fiction discussion by pointing out that no one discussion is going to do the trick. The topic is vast and complicated—we’re talking about the full range of human experience, after all. We picked up a few threads from last week … Continue reading Minutes from April 1, 2019 Meeting

Original Writing2 Comments

What About Us

TheeWriter

A poem I wrote in 2007- April 14, 2007 What about us? The reason why we search for love is simple. We want to be exceptional to someone, Even if the world can’t see out specialness We want someone who can. We need someone to think we’re important And to miss us when we’ve gone away. we cling to that person who thinks more of us them we do of ourselves but the world neglects us, rejects us, deflects us. So I have to know- What about those of us who are not exceptional, great or special? The normal, hum-drum, … Continue reading What About Us

Messages, promptsLeave a comment

The Poetry is Coming

TheeWriter

Hello Creative Writer, April is National Poetry Month so lets get the poetry flowing. If you’re like me then poetry might not be your strong suit. You might even feel as though this is a genre that is completely and utterly for other people, magical people who can make their poems feel touching rather than cheesy and eloquent instead of childish. When I was a very young writer I started out writing poetry and I was unafraid. I was fearless because I wasn’t judging myself against anyone else. I hadn’t read an epic poem; I’d never even dived into the … Continue reading The Poetry is Coming

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Minutes from March 25, 2019 Meeting

noodlepoet

Yesterday we began our discussion on diversity in fiction. You may recall that we touched on this topic a little when we discussed character development and especially cultures in worldbuilding: the more varied perspectives you bring to a work of fiction, the stronger it will be, because it will reflect reality; the more realistic your worlds and your characters, the more immersive your fiction will be. In yesterday’s meeting we discussed how that kind of argument fails to get at the deeper truth. “It will make you a better writer” is a handy way to incentivize inclusion, but that should be … Continue reading Minutes from March 25, 2019 Meeting

Club Meeting Minutes2 Comments

Minutes from March 18, 2019 Meeting

noodlepoet

Sounds like everyone made good use of their time off! A couple of us have been working on unfinished novels and a couple more have been editing finished work, but we still had brain space to tackle a few difficult questions yesterday. Over Spring Break a question about finding an editor turned into a discussion about knowing when your work is ready to be put out into the world. We continued that discussion in the meeting yesterday and managed to tie it to another question, how things become canon in a work of fiction, sparked by J.K. Rowling doing that thing … Continue reading Minutes from March 18, 2019 Meeting

Messages1 Comment

A Conversation About Publishing

TheeWriter

Hello Creative Writer, During the Spring break there have been no meetings but that hasn’t kept us from having writing on our minds. We have been working diligently on our Prompts but Nick also posed a question to the group… Nick: “Hey, If a writer is beginning their writing career, where do they inquire about finding an editor for their manuscript,or who edits manuscripts for new writers? Thanks.” Heather: “That is an interesting question.” Vinzeal: “Locally, I use Ron Fisher to edit my stuff. Depending on the material, he would charge less than half the national average. I know for novels … Continue reading A Conversation About Publishing